Teen hanging victim was pregnant

By CHRIS OLWELL and SCOTT CARROLL | News Herald writers

Published: Thursday, October 10, 2013 at 08:41 PM.

Domingo-Perez was pregnant — about four or five weeks along as far as investigators can tell based on the autopsy. It’s unclear who fathered her unborn child, and it likely will take awhile to get the results of DNA tests.

“It’s possible that it is his,” Nichols said, referring to Manilla, “but there’s no way to know until we get the DNA evidence back.”

The Sheriff’s Office is working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to extract information from the pair’s cellphones that could provide insight into when they died and the extent of their relationship, Nichols said.

Late Thursday, they had determined that Manilla and Domingo-Perez had worked together on area produce farms. And witnesses told investigators that on Saturday, he picked up the girl from her Marianna home, telling her that his boss was having a party and he needed help setting up tables and chairs. That’s when he took her to the watermelon farm, authorities said.

“Based on what the family and friends have said, he had some kind of romantic interest in her,” Nichols said.

Nichols said Domingo-Perez was not interested in Manilla due to the age difference between them.

Domingo-Perez was from Guatemala, Nichols said. Manilla had a Quincy address, though he may have been staying in the barn where they died. He was from Mexico, Nichols said.

CLARKSVILLE — Authorities in Calhoun County said they believe a pregnant teenager put up a fight before she was hanged this weekend.

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the deaths of a 32-year-old man and 15-year-old girl as a murder-suicide. They released new details Thursday, including the names of the man and girl.

The bodies of Crecencio Rangel Manilla and Mirna Domingo-Perez were discovered Monday at a watermelon farm off Whitewater Grade Road. Deputies with the Sheriff’s Office received help from federal officials to notify the families before releasing the migrants workers’ identities Thursday.

Evidence suggests that Domingo-Perez was the victim of homicide, investigators said; she likely was killed late Saturday or early Sunday. Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jared Nichols said in a press release she had injuries that suggest she tried to fight Manilla before he bound her hands and hanged her in a barn using a forklift and ropes.

“It appears that she fought up until she died,” Nichols said.

Domingo-Perez might have been gagged, as well, Nichols said. Investigators believe Manilla untied her hands and removed a rag from her mouth after she was dead to make the incident appear like a double-suicide. There was no evidence of sexual battery.

Manilla used the forklift and ropes to hang himself next to her, Nichols said in the release.

Domingo-Perez was pregnant — about four or five weeks along as far as investigators can tell based on the autopsy. It’s unclear who fathered her unborn child, and it likely will take awhile to get the results of DNA tests.

“It’s possible that it is his,” Nichols said, referring to Manilla, “but there’s no way to know until we get the DNA evidence back.”

The Sheriff’s Office is working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to extract information from the pair’s cellphones that could provide insight into when they died and the extent of their relationship, Nichols said.

Late Thursday, they had determined that Manilla and Domingo-Perez had worked together on area produce farms. And witnesses told investigators that on Saturday, he picked up the girl from her Marianna home, telling her that his boss was having a party and he needed help setting up tables and chairs. That’s when he took her to the watermelon farm, authorities said.

“Based on what the family and friends have said, he had some kind of romantic interest in her,” Nichols said.

Nichols said Domingo-Perez was not interested in Manilla due to the age difference between them.

Domingo-Perez was from Guatemala, Nichols said. Manilla had a Quincy address, though he may have been staying in the barn where they died. He was from Mexico, Nichols said.